The research, conducted with IT and security decision makers at more than 300 UK businesses, examined key aspects of how organisations select security suppliers and outsource security to third party providers.
Advice from consultants, resellers and partners was ranked as the most important source when buyers are researching technology, cited by 43% of respondents. It was followed in importance by advice from existing security suppliers (40%) and technology media (39%) all of which were rated as more important than word of mouth recommendations or online sources such as video sites.
Jeremy Hendy, CEO of Skurio, said, “The findings validate the extent to which businesses turn to the expertise and insights of trusted advisors at a time when they are navigating a growing number of security challenges. Their advice is crucial in helping businesses understand how to strengthen their protection in a fast-changing threat landscape.
“We’re facing exceptional circumstances in terms of working practices and how we need to manage cyber threats, and this is placing massive pressures on businesses of all sizes. We know that the luxury of in-house security teams, on call 24/7 to monitor for external threats, is simply out of reach for many organisations. The research highlights the importance of outsourcing to managed service providers who make cyber security their business.”
The research also revealed the importance of outsourcing security with more than 50% of UK businesses using either totally or partially outsourced services to manage their cyber security. Lack of in-house expertise is a key issue for organisations: 80% of respondents believe that their teams lack skills and knowledge on digital risk protection – the ability to monitor for risks, threats, and breaches outside their network.
The importance of outsourcing for protecting customer data (as digital ecosystems, and threat vectors, expand) was also highlighted. More than half of all respondents named meeting the data security needs and expectations of their external clients as the most important factor for outsourcing protection against cyber threats. This was followed by reducing loss of customers due to data breaches and reducing lost revenue due to business interruption, or delays in trading.
Hendy added, “It’s encouraging that organisations not only recognise the importance of protecting their customer data, but that there’s also an appetite for innovative and disruptive technologies to protect against new threats. As organisations manage more digital channels, and use more third-party suppliers, their threat vectors are rising exponentially. Understanding your digital risk – all those threats on the deep and dark parts of the web – is a great first step in protecting against them. Businesses are much better prepared to mitigate an attack if they see it coming.”